Activities Fair!

[whiteandbluefencer]

So, my college is going to be having it's annual Activities Fair soon. Each club will have a table and our club will be able to make a poster for the front of the table. I'm not worried about the poster, because I know I can make that. I am however concerned about how best to present my club. I haven't actually ever ran a table at the Activities Fair before. I would like to hear from other members out there that fence with college clubs...

What do you do when it's Activities Fair time?

[poor_nizzie]

Fencing at my school is D1, not club, but I'm sure these tips will be helpful all the same. When I represented my school's team at open houses, we'd usually have a sign-up sheet for name/email address/highschool/weapon(s) to gauge interest, along with a stack of informational pamphlets on the school's athletic department and the team itself. It also helped to have one person each from the men's and women's teams (or one person from each weapon) to give the prospects more specific information.

[thekoby]

So, my college is going to be having it's annual Activities Fair soon. Each club will have a table and our club will be able to make a poster for the front of the table. I'm not worried about the poster, because I know I can make that. I am however concerned about how best to present my club. I haven't actually ever ran a table at the Activities Fair before. I would like to hear from other members out there that fence with college clubs...

What do you do when it's Activities Fair time?

This is right up my ally. Ball State does an activity fair every year, and in the past 3 years, the fencing table has been one of the most popular one. Through my many contacts around the school I've been able to secure a table that is in front of a large window with a patio behind it. As students walk the area concorse, we had the table set up with flyers they could grab, a sign-up sheet that would be used to send them a welcome/thank you email, equipment and trophies, and members standing around in full gear to answer questions or show off weapons. The reason why I have been requesting a table in front of a window is for live demonstrations outside (weather permitting).

Out goal in recent years has been to present the club as something fun to do, a place to meet new and interesting people, and a place to promote a healthy lifestyle on campus. The past two years I've been in charge of running the table, so had the older, more experienced members at the table answering questions while newer members were passing out flyers or fencing. One thing that I have always wanted to do is have a small TV or laptop computer playing a pre-recorded video that would advertise the club, but until recently I have not had the means to record and edit the video.

A new thing that I have developed this year to help my club draw in interested people is online registration. After fielding a lot of emails from students who either forgot about the activity fair or could not go due to other engagements, I wanted to give them an opportunity to still sign up to receive the welcome email we send out every year. I developed an online registration page and linked it to the club web site. Students can fill out the simple form and it writes their information to a XML file that is converted to a simple Excel file when I download it through the admin page. We will have both a paper on the table for people to sign up, but also have a laptop running the online registration so we can get twice as many signups at one time.

If you're looking for ideas on how to draw people to your table, I would just have to say equipment. They see some one standing around wearing all white (or you with your bright blue mask) and they are going to ask, "What's that over there?". If you have the room to display live demonstrations, that would draw an even bigger crowd.

[MyrddinsPrecint]

* Have two lists, one for "email me about the first practice" and one for "email me about home tournaments and fundraisers". There will be people with a roommate or dorm mate that want to see it, and after a tournament, they may actually show up to try it.

*Definitely have gear with you.

*If there's any way at all, have two people fencing. It's fine if it's even drills where they're standing still. It's much more interesting than nothing.

[oiuyt]

One thing that I have always wanted to do is have a small TV or laptop computer playing a pre-recorded video that would advertise the club, but until recently I have not had the means to record and edit the video.

Buy a World Championships DVD if you haven't already.

If you have the time/skills to do a good custom job, go ahead. Until then the easily-available options are considerably better than what you have now.

-B

[thekoby]

Buy a World Championships DVD if you haven't already.

If you have the time/skills to do a good custom job, go ahead. Until then the easily-available options are considerably better than what you have now.

-B

Agreed....I'm not a film maker or professional sound/video editor so mine may come out looking really crappy and do more harm to the club. Good suggestion!

[rgulot01]

So I have only run tables for the martial art group I am In (Aikido) but it seems as though by me candy is an important factor.

[larkmaj]

If at all possible try and get enough space for a demo strip. We've done that the past 2 years and it has greatly increased our initial sign-up. The first time we were actually out in front of the building so everybody passed the strip on their way in. The purpose of the fair is names/emails of people who are interested enough to actually show up to the first practice, so the fair is a time for flashy fencing, not technically sound fencing.

[aamct2]

In addition to all the things mentioned above, we also do two things. We have coloured fliers that briefly describe the club, our coaches contact information, and the address of the club's website. Most of our representatives also dress up in full gear and will occasionally walk around the fair, drawing people to follow back to the table.

[mrbiggs]

We put out a few weapons and we get an email list, then we tell people about the demo we usually do during the first few weeks of school. The demo is also well-advertised.

The activities fair is generally well-attended, so we get a fair number of people to come by the booth for it.

[whiteandbluefencer]

So, I think the Activities Fair was a success... I printed off four sign-up sheets and three were completely full with some names ending up on the fourth. I haven't counted how many students that makes, but it made me happy!

The only unfortunate thing was that the Activities Fair was moved inside due to the weather... made for an interesting demo.

[rgulot01]

congrats!

[kuroutesshin]

At our student club day this past weekend we had a booth, and then we had people fencing in various places with a person handing out flyers telling them to come to practice.

We've had fifty or sixty new people come to practices, dropping off, but I've been very happy with the quality of people that are staying- they're learning quickly!

We suck 'em in with promises of booze and women and then slap knickers on them and push.

[thekoby]

So, I think the Activities Fair was a success... I printed off four sign-up sheets and three were completely full with some names ending up on the fourth. I haven't counted how many students that makes, but it made me happy!

The only unfortunate thing was that the Activities Fair was moved inside due to the weather... made for an interesting demo.

Sounds like a pretty sucessful day! Between the paper sign-up sheets and the online-regsitration, my club's VP sent out a welcome email to 97 people. Our first practice is this coming Tuesday, so we'll see how many of them actually come.

We had enough room outside to tape a strip onto the pavement and do a few bouts to advertise fencing. There was one guy that kept trying to but in and make calls about actions in the bouts while watching. It became very obvious that his knowledge of fencing came from watching the Olympics because he kept bringing up Mariel anytime one of us grabbed a sabre.

uhg, I'm tired of waiting!! I want Tuesday to be here already so I can check out all the hott new girls........er.....I mean new fencing students.

[jeffreyfrog]

it depends what your club is about. Lots of booths at my university put candy out on the table; that helps attract some;
Check Spellingstudents. Optometry club had eye ball gum balls, pre-vet club had animal crackers, my girl friend says that her sorority had a girl stand on the table and chant their motto, the student physics society and AXE (chemistry fraterity) had demonstrations, put out lots of literature related to your organization if possible, uses eye catching "devices" like banners and baloons. Make sure you have people running your booth who are excited about whatever your club is.

Think about what you would go to..the first step is making sure you like your own table.

Second, ask people in that area..people are different all over..Personally, I won't go anywhere that doesn't have food or drinks..I go because I want to hang out with my friends. Team Building Los Angeles

[stellarindia01]

Hi,
Thanks for sharing your ideas and views with us. I would like to know more on this.
CSK

[thekoby]

Hi,
Thanks for sharing your ideas and views with us. I would like to know more on this.
CSK

Are you looking at doing a college activity fair, or possibly a community demonstration for an open club? Most university-affiliated clubs are closed to only students, staff, and alumni, so if it's for a college club, check with your student rec/club ogranization to find out the specific rules on who can be a member.

Generally, just like everybody mentioned above, make sure you have enough space that you can do demos (possibly a full strip - roughly 46'x3.5' for those of us having troubles finding tape measures with meters in the USA). Get flyers posted around to advertise the demonstration/fair early on so that people know you will be there. Have a set plan on what you want to do - have demos with someone reffing and explaining the actions, hand out flyers or business cards, have online registration for a welcome email (my club tried that this year with some success), or even people visiting other clubs in full gear (a few people from my club went and played DDR at the DDR club booth with full fencing gear on).